Counterterrorism at Super Bowl

While the NFL has brought its best teams to South Florida, the best teams in public safety are already on the ground. As with all of our public safety partners, ATF’s primary goal is to help provide a safe, secure and enjoyable Super Bowl experience for the fans, the teams and the citizens of South Florida. We began planning collectively for this year’s event since the last Super Bowl in Miami.

With over 40 years experience in the explosives arena, ATF has taken what we have learned and put our best practices into action. We will provide technical assistance and explosives expertise to the Miami Dade Police Department and to all, of our law enforcement partners.

ATF has primary federal jurisdiction for crimes and issues involving explosives. This focused expertise has and will continue to be deployed at similar National Security Events including Presidential Inaugurations, Republican and Democratic National Conventions, the Olympic games, the World Series and of course, the Super Bowl. Our presence here today, marks 10 years of Super Bowl experience for ATF.

We have brought in some of the world’s best-trained and experienced individuals, many of whom have recently returned from the ‘war on terror’ in both Iraq and Afghanistan in support of our troops. ATF explosives specialists and bomb techs have already begun to work, having seamlessly integrated with local bomb squads, and are providing additional render-safe capabilities to the region. Explosives-detection, or bomb-sniffing, canine teams have been deployed to Miami from across the country. These dogs can detect an estimated 19,000 known explosives compositions.

It is our job, law enforcement’s job, to help make a safe environment during this week-long celebration. Most of you will never see these or other components in action and that’s the way we want it. We want to be unobtrusive yet effective.

While the scoreboard will be there to tally touchdowns, rest assured, our goal is to score a ‘safety.’